1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for managing power consumption in a computer.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
In order to deliver powerful computing resources, computer architects must design powerful computer processors and high-speed memory modules. Current computer processors, for example, are capable of executing billions of computer program instructions per second. Operating these computer processors and memory modules requires a significant amount of power, and often processors can consume over 100 watts during operation. As computer become more and more dependent on battery power for portability and as computer architects design environmentally-sensitive computers that use less energy, readers will appreciate any improvements for managing power consumption in a computer.